


Running Scared

by FleetSparrow



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Circus, Alternate Universe - Performer, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2019-12-31 23:42:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18324350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FleetSparrow/pseuds/FleetSparrow
Summary: Bruce has run from Gotham to a circus and into the arms of the last Flying Grayson.





	Running Scared

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: AU--performer

Haley’s Circus gained a new strongman just outside of Gotham. He went by Samson, and he was as strong and as handsome as his namesake. Their star acrobat, Dick Grayson, had fallen head over heels for him.

Literally.

“Do you need help?” Samson asked, looking down on the fallen Grayson.

Dick blushed. “Sorry. Sometimes I get overexcited and I just...flip.” He grabbed Samson’s hand and let himself be pulled up with ease. “Gosh, you’re strong.”

Samson smiled. “Want me to bench press you?”

Dick swooned.

And that was how their relationship began.

Samson knew more than just how to lift weights and bend metal. He taught Dick martial arts and boxing. Dick, for his part, taught Samson how to fly, taught him how to tuck and roll and land without hurting himself. Dick taught him a few other things, too, private things.

Samson was open to everyone, but cagey about his own past. Still, there were plenty in the circus who didn’t exactly like their pasts being aired, so no one was overly curious. Except Dick.

Samson had only one rule. He wouldn’t perform in Gotham. He would stay in their shared trailer while Dick dazzled the crowds with his flight. Dick would come back tired, but still high off his performance. They would make love in their small bed, and Dick would keep his questions to himself.

Until one night, he couldn’t.

“What did Gotham do to you?” Dick asked one night while they were in bed.

Samson was quiet for a long time, so long Dick thought perhaps he’d fallen asleep instead of answering. Dick sighed quietly and rested his head on Samson’s shoulder.

“My name is Bruce Wayne,” Samson said. “When I was ten, my parents were murdered. I was raised by an aunt and our family butler. I trained myself to become a machine to fight crime, so what happened to me would never happen to anyone else.”

“Then what happened?”

“I...I failed. On my first night out, I failed. I could barely save myself in a fight. All my training and I...panicked. I was so angry. I nearly killed someone. I couldn’t do that again. So I left.”

“And came here?”

“Yes.”

Dick kissed his chest. “Sam—Bruce.”

“I can’t hurt anyone out here,” he said.

“And no one can hurt you, is that it?”

Bruce looked at him. “What do you mean?”

“You’re gonna run forever if you’re running from yourself,” Dick said. “Are there people looking for you?”

“Perhaps Alfred. I just packed and left.”

Dick smiled. “Go home, Bruce. See your family again. It’s where you belong.”

“I belong here, with you.”

Dick shook his head. “You wanted to do good. Go back. Help Gotham. Maybe not how you first tried, but there are other ways.”

Bruce sat up. “But what about you?”

“The circus is my life. I was born here. You weren’t. We belong where we belong.” Dick’s eyes were bright with unshed tears.

Bruce shook his head. “I belong with you, Dick. I’ve given up Gotham. I won’t give up you.”

“Bruce….”

He kissed Dick, holding him tight. Maybe Dick was right. Maybe he was just running away. But he’d found a home and he wasn’t planning on running anymore.


End file.
